Bacterial characterization in natural breeding habitats of Aedes mosquitoes and their role on ovipositional response

Authors: Ritwik Mondal, Pemola Devi N, Jauhari RK

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus play a major role in transmitting dengue, one of the most important resurging mosquito-borne diseases. Aedes are known for ovipositional attractants using bacterial cues and hence can be studied at grass root level to find out the association determining their role in ovipositional attractants. Water samples were collected from different natural breeding sites of Aedes species in Dehradun during December, 2013 to November, 2014. The water samples after serial dilution was processed for conventional bacterial characterization (morphology, biochemical, extracellular enzymes and antibiotic test). The bacteria present were characterized and processed for oviposition bioassay. A total of 17 isolates were found, among which four (DABH-1, DABH-5, DABH -6 and DABH-8) isolates were common throughout the year. The conventional characterization test confirmed the four isolates to be Bacillus species. The oviposition activity index (OAI) conferred DABH-5(0.96) > DABH-1(0.88) > DABH-6(0.76) > DABH-8 (0.68) on the following order. Present study envisages isolation and characterization of the bacteria found associated with Aedes breeding grounds. Further, the female Aedes uses semiochemicals emitted by certain bacteria in selecting oviposition sites.

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